To raise a child
by konohaflameninja
Summary: We all think that it's obvious what raising a child implies, but the League members will discover that not all of them have the same idea.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello :) I'm co-writing this story with Savy160. Please be patient with my grammar, because I haven't written in English in a while.**

 **Please leave a review or a PM. Thank you and I hope you have an excellent day ;)**

.

Bruce

Who would have said I'd spend my Saturday morning serving the League members kids' breakfast at the League's base? Stupid Superman and his monthly morning meetings.

"Daddy, I don't want any"

I sighed exasperated… Why did Dick have to be such a picky eater?

"I know, chum, but it's what Hal cooked and we really don't have time for me to cook you anything else"

"Then I don't want anything"

I rolled my eyes. Usually I wouldn't let him get away with this, but he had had breakfast at home, so it wasn't that bad. He was just there at the table waiting for his brother and friends instead of waiting for them alone in the living room.

"You don't have to eat then" I replied taking his plate away.

I should already be in the meeting room, but I hadn't liked the idea of letting the kids eat by themselves. Jason hadn't have any breakfast at home because he was still slept when we left. I needed to make sure he ate enough before running off to start playing and exploring with the other Kids. Not that I have any problem with his eating habits, now that I think about it. Just now he was eating pretty well.

But as I was looking at my second son, I couldn't help but notice that Oliver's kid, the little redhead he had taken in, was eating way faster than Jason... And it was not only that it was way faster, it was more the way he did It... Like desperate... He remembered me of Jason the first times he had eaten at the manor after taking him off the streets.

"Can I have more?" The kid looked up and offered me his empty plate. It was a good thing he was… well, a Kid, and didn't notice I was staring at him" Your dad cooks really good" I heard him say to Kyle as I took the empty dish.

"It wasn't that good" was the sincere reply. Jordan was not a really good cook... At least his kid knew it.

Roy, I think that's his name, shrugged.

"It tasted pretty good to me"

Well, that's serious.

"Hey, you have a bruise on your arm" signaled Jason.

Roy looked down to check himself and slowly poked said "bruise"... Only to rub it later.

"It's just dirt"

Now that I look, the entire kid seems to be covered in different layers of dirt. When was the last time Oliver made him take a bath? Or change his clothes, for that matter...

"There you go" I said as I handed him his second plate, just for him to start eating it just as fiercely as the previous one.

"Thanks" he spluttered with his mouth full.

"You're welcome" I hadn't even noticed I had stopped looking at Jason to study this kid.

"Can I have some to take home? We ran out of cereal and bread yesterday"

Just then, Hal entered the base's kitchen to hurry me up.

"Come on, Bruce, the kids ate enough already"

Damn It, Hal...

As we left the kids alone, I couldn't help but voice what I had in mind.

"Have you taken a look at Oliver's kid?"

"What's up with him?" Hal sounded totally oblivious" Was he poking his nose or something?"

"No, Hal" I rolled my eyes. What was wrong with him?" But he was engulfing his food like he hadn't eaten in days... And he's dirty, just as his clothes..."

Now Hal looked a little bit less confused.

"What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything..." Lie..." Maybe he just dislikes Ollie's food and he hasn't noticed. You know how distracted he can be... And if it's like that, we should tell him. You know, so his kid doesn't get undernourished" It was a really poor excuse, but I couldn't think about another way to ask him if he was actually taking care of the child.

Hal

But there was no time to ask Oliver. Bruce's idea, or so he had told me, was to wait until the meeting was over, but we couldn't finish it before a loud noise outside the room interrupted us.

.

"How come you always do this kind of shit?!" the word automatically had me covering my kid's ears. Ok, the kids had managed to brake a massive alien ship… But was the language really necessary?

While the other mentors weren't jumping out of happiness, none of us was handling it the same way as Oliver. That last question had been unnecessarily loud, and now all of us were slyly looking at them. The kids, on the other hand, were blatantly looking.

"Wasn't on purpose..." Roy looked at him with a hint of a pout.

"It's never on purpose with you Roy, you always leave a mess everywhere we go!"

"It was an accident!"

"An accident... Didn't I told you not to cause any trouble here?"

"We were just..."

"Didn't I told you?!"

"I didn't do anything!"

But before the kid could go any further, Oliver grabbed his arm and landed three sharp swats on the child's sitspots, leaving us all with our mouths hanging open... Kyle even threw his little hands to cover his scared behind.

"Owww!"

"Behave" Oliver grunted through clenched teeth.

And well, while Roy's only thought seemed to be his sore bottom, the rest of us were astonished. I, for one, would never lay a hand on my kid in public... The people I had heard that has read parenting books say that's not ok to do reprehend them in front of others. Self steem and stuff alike.

After that we all fell silent. We didn't even finished scolding our own kids, we were all really surprised for what had just happened. Not even Bruce would dare hitting his Kids in public...

Even after returning to the meeting room, the rest of us felt obviously uncomfortable.

The only one who didn't seem to notice the expression on our faces was Oliver himself. He kept on in the meeting like nothing had happened.

.

After the meeting we all decided to take the kids to get ice cream in metropolis, it may be a boring city, but it was also the safest among ours.

Fortunately the kids wanted to ride together and it was Oliver and Clark's turn to take them.

"So, are we going to talk about what just happened?" I finally asked Bruce, Arthur and Barry, who were flying to earth in the same ship as me.

"It's really not any of our business" was Bruce unsure reply.

What?!

"I know he's not my kid, but I just think he shouldn't... I don't know... yell at the boy like that, and even less in front of people"

"I do not know here in Earth, but in Atlantis we believe that behavior can harm a child self steem" apparently Arthur thought the same way.

"We think that too" I replied" And he should be thankful Dinah and Diana are training in Temyscira… They'd have gotten way madder than us. He was just so out of place"

"And who's going to tell him that? Us?"

"Maybe we could be subtle... Like making a protocol, a manual of how to treat your kid to be a healthy sidekick, or something like that"

So Barry was concerned too…

Bruce

"Barry, that's just stupid. Like How to Train Your Dragon?" both of them looked at me like I had just spoken in cetaseus" Stop looking at me like that, that damned kids have made me seen the movie like a hundred times... The point is, our friend or not, we can't just condone something like… abuse or something, but we can't intrude either if we just don't like the way he deals with some things"

Maybe I had been the one uncomfortable with the boy's filthy clothes or lack of baths, but we just couldn't intrude in Oliver's life because he had lost his patience with the kids antics. Even I had raised my voice to my children at some point in life. I had never spanked them in public, though...

"But... Look" started Barry now" I'm not saying there's abuse, I mean, I know Ollie would not hurt him on purpose, but..."

"Ok guys, let me explain... what you're implying is that Oliver is not being a good parent, and we can't just accuse him of that without further proof... Come on, you know how he gets when we criticize his cooking, imagine how he'll get if we criticize his parenting just like that... Maybe his not a bad parent, maybe he's just a jerk... Anyways if he's really being that bad then we can talk to him, but we need to make sure before we say anything"

"Ok, then we can wait until then to talk to him, but right now Wally, Kaldur, Kyle, Chris, Dick and Jason are totally traumatized"

I rolled my eyes.

"Barry, you're totally overreacting. Maybe they're not thrilled about the whole situation, but they are fine. Remember that Kyle and Jason are Oliver's fans…" maybe not Green Arrow's, but surely Ollie's" You'll see, when we get there, the children are going to be just as always"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello :) I hope you're liking the story. It was co-written with Savy160**

 **Sorry for the grammar mistakes, it's been a while since I wrote in English.**

 **Please leave a review or PM ;) Have a great day!**

Oliver

Ok, maybe in the ship I thought the kids were acting weird, but now at the ice cream store I was totally sure.

First of all, they always ask a lot of questions in the ship (or the car if we're on earth), they like to talk a lot and they always ask for my cell phone to take turns playing the games… But now they didn't make a single sound.

Even now at the ice cream store, they wouldn't even look at me in the eye.

Those kids were acting all so freaking weird… it couldn't be because of the smacks I gave Roy, could it? I mean, it's no big deal... Roy wasn't acting like them. Oddly, he was the only one acting somewhat normal.

"Daddy" I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice the redheaded boy walking over to us at the "adult's table" and trying to wrap his little arms around me… It was kind of cute and funny because he was still really small and couldn't completely encircle me.

"What's up, kiddo?" I lifted him to sit in my lap, where he wriggled a bit but didn't do anything else to make me feel guilty.

"I wanna go home... It's boring in here, no one's talking"

"What?" I tried to appear surprised, those kids were really silent" How come?"

Roy rolled his eyes, but leaned his side on my chest.

"I don't know, they are all acting so weird…" he sighed" We broke a robot…"

A ship, Roy, a damn ship.

"... Big deal, it's not to be like that. Not even your friends are talking, and Wally's uncle never shuts up"

Now that he mentioned it, it was completely true!

I had been so distracted with the children's weird attitude that I hadn't noticed the guys were really silent too.

End of Oliver's POV

"I think you may be overthinking it, kiddo" was Oliver's answer" Maybe the other kids are tired, you know, you all woke up really early"

"But…" Roy didn't look convinced at all.

"Why don't you go get a cookie or another ice cream" he got ten dollars out of his pocket and gave it to the kid, who instantly forgot about his friends' behavior. He wasn't really interested with the money, but he sure was with the idea of more ice cream. Oliver never let him eat that much junk food.

"Sure!" he jumped out of the man's lap to go get that ice cream.

Once the kid was gone, Oliver looked back at the other League mentors.

"You know what? My boy's right, you're all acting really weird... Is it because of the destroyed ship? I already told you I'll pay for it"

"No, it's because of the way you're acting towards your kid," Hal stated bluntly.

The other members turned to look at the Green Lantern in surprise. Barry immediately cleared his throat and softly replied, "Ollie, we're a little worried about Roy."

Now, Oliver was completely in blank.

"Ok, now I'm totally lost... What do you mean?" he was not acting different towards Roy and he didn't get why they should be "worried".

Bruce stated, "The boy's hygiene as well as his appetite is questionable."

Clark added, "We're just worried about him, Ollie. Is everything alright at home? Perhaps Roy could stay with Dinah for a while if there's something going on."

"Woah, stop it there" stay with Dinah? What the hell..." So, the kid didn't take a shower today, big deal, a lot of kids doesn't like to shower. And... Are you implying I don't buy him food or what?" now he couldn't believe what they were saying" Everything's fine "at home"" he imitated Clark" We are just tired, we moved out of the Manor last week" it was way more tiring keeping track of the boy without the help at the Manor... well, they were more like nannys to Roy than help, but whatever.

"I would hope for your sake that nothing's wrong, Oliver. Next time we see him, he'd better have gained weight and he will have been cleaned," Batman growled before standing.

Clark sighed before adding, "I have to agree with Bruce on this one, Ollie. You'd better have it together next week."

Oliver stood up as well.

"Fuck you all, it's none of your business what my son does or does not" who did they think they were?" Roy, we are going home!"

"But you said..."

"Shut it, Roy! We'll get the damn ice cream somewhere else!"

Roy stuck out his lip before waving goodbye to his friends. He hated when his dad got like this.

"Do we have to?" he asked

"Yes, we do" ughhhh" Come on, it's time to go! We already ate too much fucking ice cream anyways..."

"You said a bad word!" Kyle yelled, pointing his finger at Oliver.

Oliver rolled his eyes. Seriously?

"Yeah, it slipped... Roy, come on!"

"Oliver, there is no need to react like this" Arthur tried to be reasonable.

"Then how? You all pretend to tell me how to be the father of the year? Don't make me laugh..." he went and took the kid's hand" Some friends you are"

Oliver dragged Roy away. The poor kid merely waved goodbye to his friends. The other children merely looked up to their own guardians in question.

"That didn't go very well" not that Barry wanted to be obvious" I knew he was not going to be happy about this, but... I didn't think he would react like this either"

"It's Oliver we are talking about... What did you think?" Hal wasn't all that happy either.

"Well, you two seemed to be pretty good friends" was Clark's response.

"We are, but..."

"It's complicated," Hal finished before scooping Kyle up. "You ready to go home?"

"We were gonna go to the park"

"Yeah, who said so?" he didn't remember promising that to the kid.

"Roy's dad always take us after getting ice cream"

"Right, where the fuck is Ollie?" every member of the League turned to look at Jason.

"Language!" Bruce snapped.

Jason rolled his eyes but muttered an apology.

"What about the park, Dad?" Dick asked.

"Well..." Ollie always took them because he had a clear agenda on Saturdays" Maybe other day we can invite them to play at home"

"Nooooo, Ollie always takes us" Jason kept on whinning.

"It's no fun without Roy" now it was Kyle's turn to complain

"Can we invite him?" Chris asked his dad.

"Not today. We'll go some other time, Chris," Clark replied.

All the other adults backed out too. No park for that day.

"This sucks" Jason again.

"Language, Jason!"

"What? Ollie says that "sucks" means that it's boring"

"Well, it doesn't... And stop saying it"

"This day sucks so far" was Kaldur's reply.

"I'm sure it will be better next time," Barry replied before taking Wally's hand. "Come on, Kiddo, let's head home. I'm sure your aunt has something amazing for dinner."

Wally pouted but didn't argue. He was somewhat disappointed, all of them were waiting for the park.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello :) I hope you're liking the story. It was co-written with Savy160**

 **Sorry for the grammar mistakes, it's been a while since I wrote in English.**

 **Please leave a review or PM ;) Have a great day!**

After the discussion with Oliver, Hal couldn't stop thinking about Roy. He wasn't the perfect father, but he didn't act like Ollie either. So, the next day...

"¿Hal?" Oliver opened his new house's door to find his friend and Kyle waiting there "¿What are you guys doing here?"

But Kyle didn't wait long and entered the house running like it was his private park.

"Kyle!"

"Let him be, he's just probably looking for Roy... What are you doing here, Hal?" Oliver repeated himself.

"We need to talk, Ollie. Alone."

Oliver took into account the seriousness of Hal's tone before slowly stepping aside. Hal entered and made his way into the kitchen. Oliver shut the door before following behind his best friend.

"Why are you here, Hal?"

"Have you been drinking again?"

The blonde rolled his eyes.

"I'm not drunk, if that's what you're asking" just then, both kids passed running by, Roy shirtless and barefoot "And before you mention it, it's laundry day... God forbid you guys start thinking I don't buy him clothes"

Hal sighed. "Ollie, you're scaring me, man... Look, everyone thinks you're neglecting your kid."

"That's what I don't get. I thought we were friends, why the fuck would you think that? Roy likes me and that kid is the best thing that's happened to me" He took a sip of his beer "You guys are all jerks"

"Then act like it! Get off your ass and get him cleaned up, feed him, give him a damn bath! This is serious, Ollie, you either get it together or you lose him."

"Are you threating me? What the hell, Hal" he really was not going to discuss "The boy's clean and there's plenty of food here. Or what? If he says he's not hungry, do I have to force feed him?"

"I'm only trying to help you. I'm your best friend, Ollie. You know that. Why are you getting so defensive?"

"Because I never tell you how to deal with your kids. And besides, Roy and I are fine... Or what? Do we have to make things different just because you guys think so? That's bullshit... Roy eats when he's hungry, showers himself... We are fine"

"Whatever, man. Just don't act like I didn't warn you." Hal sighed before calling for Kyle. "Kyle, let's go!"

"Warn me about what? Go ahead and try to call social services, let's see how thay act when I throw a few dollars at them" he was sick of that 'social services' threat. The principal of Roy's first preschool was like that all the time.

"Do you even hear yourself anymore?" Hal asked before yelling for his kid again.

"Sadly, I hear your voice more and it's really annoying"

Hal shook his head while Kyle and Roy appeared. Hal pulled Kyle into his arms before pausing to ruffle Roy's hair.

"See you around, kid."

"Bye, Uncle Hal. Bye Kyle," Roy replied.

Kyle yawned before wrapping his arms around Hal's neck.

Hal nodded at Oliver before walking out the door.

Oliver rolled his eyes before throwing himself at the sofa.

"Whatever, Hal" he never thought his best friend would be like that... What a jerk.

"Can we go over to Kyle's? I'm bored in here"

"No," Oliver sharply replied.

"Why not?"

"Because they just stopped by"

"But they didn't stay long"

"Roy, stop it, we're not going"

"That's not fair, yesterday didn't let me have my second ice cream after you said you would, you didn't take us to the park, and now you don't wanna take me to Kyle's…"

"Well, life's not always fair"

"I don't care, this sucks… Why are you mad, anyways?"

"I'm not mad, okay?" he lied "I just got bored… We've been here all day and that washing machine sound is making me go crazy"

"Then let's go out" Roy went and grabbed his arm "I want to go outside, daddy. Let's go somewhere"

"And if we both go out, who's going to wash your clothes, huh?"

"I don't care, my clothes are fine"

"Your clothes are dirty and you don't even have a shirt on. We can't go out like that"

"Why can't I wear my pajamas? Those are kind of clean and more comfy"

Oliver was going to reply that he couldn't just go outside in pajamas, but then it hit him… Why the hell not?

Before he could give up, the washing machine made the annoying sound announcing it was time to take out the clothes.

"Well, maybe in a few hours" he somehow managed to stand up.

"No, daddy, I wanna go outside" Roy pulled harder at his arm "It's not fair"

"Stop it, Roy, I already told you…"

"I don't care, I wanna go"

Now the kid was angry… Great, just great…

"Look, Roy…"

"Nooooo!"

"Hey!" apparently, the kid didn't expect him to raise his voice, because his big eyes welled up immediately. Maybe he was really tired, after all "You stop it right now, or…"

But the boy didn't let him finishing threating him, he started bawling before Oliver could say another word.

"I'm bored, dad! I wanna go outside!"

Damn!

"Well, just wait a few minutes and then…"

"I wanna go NOW!" now he had thrown himself to the floor.

"Stand up" Oliver tried to sound stern, but Roy wouldn't listen, so he grabbed the kid's arm and stood him up. However, the boy kept on with the freakin' tantrum.

"STOP IT, ROY!" Before Oliver knew it, five sharp swats had landed on the kid's bottom.

However, it didn't help at all.

Fuck that child's awful crying…

"Fine! We are going out! Just shut up already…"

And well he didn't exactly shut up, but at least the bawling reduced to sniffling…

"I… I wan… na… go outside" the boy managed between sobs.

"And we're going, but you need to calm down and behave"

Slowly, the sobs became sniffles. Apparently, for once the kid had chosen to listen to him.

Oliver sighed. He hadn't even washed a quarter of the dirty clothes in the house.

"Just put a shirt on, ok? I can't take you outside like that" the kid nodded "And it's just going to be a little while. We don't have a lot of time"

The little boy nodded slowly and Oliver just sighed. Maybe a few minutes out weren't going to hurt anyone.

.

By the time Oliver and Roy got back home, it was way past the kid's bedtime. Roy was fast asleep and Oliver was really, really tired. He had had the awesome idea of going walking to the park, so Roy would get tired faster… However, after getting that tired, the boy had fallen asleep and it had been up to Oliver's to carry him home.

Now the one extra tired was the other one, not to mention he still had to do the laundry, clean the kitchen, wash the dishes, clean the fridge… he hadn't even gone grocery shopping either…

Right freaking now, he just felt like sending everything to hell and go to sleep…

With that in mind, Oliver kept walking until he reached his bedroom, threw himself onto the bed, still clutching the child, and somehow managed to pull the undone covers over he and his kid. It's not like they would have visitors the next day, anyways. And they could always order some pizza to eat.

.

It had been a great day for Hal so far. He had had a great morning, a good day at work and apparently Kyle had behaved pretty well at school...

"Well, well, well, shouldn't you be doing your homework?"

"I'm doing my homework, I had to draw my favorite person in the world and that's you, daddy" he showed Hal the picture, who couldn't suppress a smile.

"Well, he certainly is just as handsome as me"

"My drawing is more handsome than you" was Kyle smiling reply, but before Hal could say something about it, his cell phone began to ring…

Oliver's number was in the screen.

"Ollie?"

"You wouldn't believe what just happened at the stupid kindergarten" Oliver was talking as if they hadn't argued the day before.

"Calm down, man… What happened?"

"That damn teacher, dude… That nosy lady called me out of a meeting just to go to the school. I was called at the principal's office because, according to her, my kid was not okay"

Hal instantly got worried.

"What do you mean? Is he fine?"

"He's fine, you wouldn't believe what they called me for"

"Well, if you told me, maybe I would"

"They called me just because today the teacher was reprehending Roy and he raised his arm like trying to cover himself when she tried to approach him. Could they be more disrespectful of my time?" Oliver sounded pissed as hell "And that's not all. Once there, they started bothering about how his uniform wasn't always clean or how his lunch not sometimes is 'too basic', now apparently a fruit and some cookies are just too basic, and how his homework is not always as complete as the other kids… Dude, what the fuck is wrong with everyone?! That annoying teacher even dared mention a psychologist for me!"

"Listen, man, calm down," Hal interrupted him "What did you do after that?"

"What was I going to do? I'm so fuckin' sick of everyone trying to fix my freakin' life! Our lives are fine, just fine, thank you very much! So I told them that… not the fixing my life part, just that we were okay, but they didn't believe me!"

"Okay, Oliver, stop it right there… First of all, try not to get mad to the kid, he was just reacting"

Hal heard a sardonic laugh at the other end of the line.

"Of course I'm not mad at my kid," was the man's reply "I'd also cover myself that if that ugly old bitch came near me too"

'Launguage,' he could almost hear Bruce's voice in his head.

"Okay, so where's Roy?" that was the most important thing right then.

"He's here in the car with me" duh…

"Are you driving while using your cell phone?!" And with that language in front of his child?

"Of course not! Who you think I am? You are in speaker"

"Man, what on Earth is wrong with you?!"

Oliver groaned loudly.

"No, please not this again… Look, whatever, Hal. I'm parking at your house"

"What?"

Just then he heard the sound of Oliver's expensive sports car outside of his house, so he went to open the door, and as long as he did it, a little redhead passed running through him, and suddenly Kyle wasn't doing his homework anymore…

"Can you fuckin' believe it?!" Oliver entered as if he were at his own house.

"Lower your voice, my kid's around" was all Hal could manage.

"I know, but can you believe it?!"

"Actually, Oliver, I can. I told you yesterday and the day before that I don't agree with some of your… parenting style. Anyways, what happened to 'I'll just throw some dollars to Social Services if they were come near me'?

"Oh, I'd still do that… and maybe I'll have to because that damn teacher looked really pissed… But that's not the point. I'm so freaking sick and tired of everyone telling me I suck at this parenting thing… Why can't they see my kid's happy? And we are just fine, okay? It's just that sometimes we don't have the time to do all the things we are supposed to… I mean, look at him, he's okay with how we live"

"Look, I get it man, and I swear to you it's not to annoy you, but you can just be happy and pretend that's enough. Did you know the kid can get anemia if he doesn't eat well? And he won't do as good at school if he doesn't sleep enough either… There are a lot of things that we don't really like but we do because it's what's best for them. I mean, didn't Dinah give you the talk when you brought Roy home?" she surely had lectured Hal

Oliver looked at him as if he were stupid.

"Come on, Hal, you know I must have been just looking at her boobs"

"Well, your loss, she had plenty of useful things to say," that was just too much cynicism "And I know It's hard now that you are alone with him, unlike at the Manor Where, you had plenty of help, but if that's the main problem why don't you ask Dinah to move in with you?"

Oliver shot him a look.

"Really, Hal? How should I start? 'You know you're the love of my life, would you like to come live with me, so you can take care of my kid?' Really romantic"

Okay, Hal had to admit it sounded stupid indeed.

"Fine, that's an awful idea… But what you need to understand is that you can pay Social Services all you want, but you are never going to live peacefully with your kid if things stay this way"

Oliver cursed to himself in an attempt to calm down.

"Why would he even try to cover himself, anyways? That dumb teacher must have thought I go all day slapping him around… Which I don't, just in case you're wondering"

Hal didn't say anything. At least he was right in that aspect, he hadn't seen him slapping the boy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello :) I hope you're liking the story. This chapter was also co-written with Savy160**

 **Sorry for the grammar mistakes, it's been a while since I wrote in English.**

 **Please leave a review or PM ;) Have a great day!**

"Why would he even try to cover himself, anyways? That dumb teacher must have thought I go all day slapping him around… Which I don't, just in case you're wondering"

Hal didn't say anything. At least he was right in that aspect, he hadn't seen him slapping the boy.

"I know I already said it, but I hate it when people doesn't mind their own business."

"You can't blame people for worrying when they see a kid that's not well fed or clean..." Hal really tried to sound neutral but it seemed that Oliver wasn't even paying attention to everything he had just said.

"Are you even listening?!" Hal snapped, "This is serious, Ollie. They could take your kid away."

Oliver was about to repeat his social services line, but one look at Hal's face told him to back off.

"Look, I just don't understand what i'm doing wrong... No one's the perfect father, why do people insist in bothering precisely us?"

"Clean Roy up, get him something decent to wear, make sure he's getting enough to eat, spend some time with him, and you'll be fine," Hal added.

Oliver wanted to reply, but he really couldn't think of anything else to say. He did all of that, didn't he?

Just then, both kids came back from the backyard totally covered in dirt and dry leaves.

"Ollie, look!" Roy took his hand to pull him towards the yard, "They have a lot of threes, and they are changing leaves!" For the kid, it was amazing. I t reminded him of the reserve.

"That's great, Roy," Oliver muttered as he ruffled Roy's hair.

Hal wiped some of the dirt off Kyle's cheek before picking him up. "You need a bath."

Roy made a face.

"Do I have to take a bath?"

Oliver shot him a look. He should, but...

"Actually, we are late" he had a meeting in an hour, but he had been so mad when he left Roy's kindergarten that he had to tell someone, "We'll just buy something to eat in the way"

"He hasn't eaten?!" Hal couldn't believe it.

"I'm taking care of it now." Oliver slightly growled.

Hal shifted Kyle over in his arms before stating, "How about you let Roy spend the night with Kyle? You can pick him up in the morning."

"Why?" it's not that it didn't sound like a good idea for his schedule, but he had never let the kid spend the night out of home… Roy was still a little kid.

"You know why, Ollie."

"I thought it was because you were a good friend, but then I saw that expression on your face, so I don't really know."

Hal glanced down at the two kids before looking back at his best friend. "Let's do this later, okay? Just pack a bag for Roy."

"Are you threatening me, Hal? Don't forget that if it wasn't for me your kid would be stuck in some home somewhere. You would have never of gotten custody if it weren't for me."

Hal almost forgot that his kid was there... Now Oliver was just being a total jerk!

"It seems like the only thing your filthy money's good for."

"Yeah, well, whatever" Oliver started towards the door "Another pointless discussion is the last thing we need right now" Oliver growled, "Goodbye, Hal" signaling the end of their conversation

"But I wanna stay" Roy had gotten excited with the sleepover idea, "And I'm hungry!"

"Not now!" Oliver yelled, still glaring at Hal.

"I WANNA STAY" Before the man could reply, Roy threw himself on the floor.

Kyle attached himself to his guardian's leg while both adults stared down at Roy in surprise.

Kyle tugged on Hal's jeans and whispered, "Is he dying, Daddy?"

Oliver nearly facepalmed. He didn't know which kid was worse right then.

"Get up, Roy," his father told him sternly. The kid misbehaved, obviously, all of them did, but it was becoming a habit.

"I wanna stay! I'm bored and hungry and your office sucks!" he aimed a kick at Oliver when the man tried to reach him.

"That's enough, Roy! Get the fuck up!" But instead of getting up, he started crying, and thanks God Kyle hadn't thrown a tantrum like that to Hal.

Hal picked Kyle back up to shield him from watching what was about to happen. He knew they should leave but there was always that chance that Oliver could lose his temper.

"YOU GET THE FUCK UP" Roy yelled, and Hal couldn't help it, he almost laughed! Who knew the kid would have such a nerve

"Daddy! He said a bad word!" Kyle yelled.

"That's why I told you to watch your mouth in front of the kids!"

"Shut up, Hal!"

"Don't tell my daddy to shut up!" Kyle snapped.

Oliver ignored him, and tried to physically force his own kid to stand up, but he spend like 10 minutes and the kid kept fighting to stay there. In no time, the boy was a complete mess...

"Do you want me to call Dinah?"

"I can handle my son just fine!"

"Too late," Hal muttered taking his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Ugh, fine! You can stay" Oliver gave up "But you have no idea the spanking that waits for you at home"

Roy instantly stopped crying

"And I hope you have fun here because I don't want any call at midnight telling me that you miss home and want me to pick you up!" Oliver got into his car and then was gone without another word. Hal sighed before taking the two boys into the house to order a pizza.

"I wanna go home" Roy said when he dared speak again.

"We'll call your dad later after his meeting," Hal replied. "But, you're getting a bath first."

"I don't want a bath, I wanna go home..."

Hal didn't reply. He merely ushered Roy and Kyle into the bathroom. He helped them out of their clothes before putting them in the tub. Kyle gleefully played with his bath toys while Roy just sat there and pouted.

"Roy, what's wrong?" he tried again "Look, this is super fun, Kyle is having the time of his life"

"I wanna go home" Hal now started to worry, he was seeing the beginning of a tear.

"Alright. Calm down," Hal replied before pulling Kyle out and wrapping a towel around him. He did the same to Roy before helping the two get dressed. He then sent Kyle to bed before turning to Roy.

"Talk to me about your dad first, Roy."

"What about him?"

"Do you eat enough? Do you have clean clothes? Is he nice to you? Stuff like that."

Roy looked at him confused.

"Well, right now he's mad... But I really wanted to stay here and play all day and have fun" which he hadn't done since Oliver left "His office is boring, I didn't want to stay there all afternoon"

"I'll bet. But, can you answer the other questions for me?"

"I have lots of clothes... Right now they are all dirty because Ollie and I went to the park on laundry day, but we can wash them another day"

"Roy, tell me the truth. Is your dad nice to you?"

"What do you mean by nice?"

"Does he... Does he hurt you?"

"Like how?" he didn't understand Kyle's dad.

"Does he hit you or yell at you?"

"Like... when he gets mad, he sometimes yells" like that afternoon.

Hal sighed before nodding. "Alright. Let's just call him."

"Do you think he'll want to come?" right then, Roy just wanted Ollie to pick him up and hold him, maybe that way he'd stop feeling so sad. When Oliver picked him up, it was the best thing ever... Dinah couldn't because, according to her, Roy was a really tall kid and it was difficult for her. So, his dad was the only one that would carry him around if he wanted... Bad luck Oliver probably wouldn't want to in that moment.

The man didn't know how to answer to that. He really hope Oliver would want to, because they needed to discuss Roy's situation… It didn't matter if the other man wanted or not.

.

Hal didn't live in the most expensive neighborhood, but it was nice and safe enough, so he agreed at waiting for Oliver outside with Roy. At first, he hadn't think of it as a good idea, but Roy had been really persistent about it.

He was just there, sitting at the stairs of the doorway beside the kid, who actually looked relaxed for the first time since his guardian left. He didn't really think Oliver was the worst parent ever, but he… Hal actually didn't know what to say; he knew his friend cared, it was just…

The lights of Oliver's car took him out of his thoughts.

"Dad!" Suddenly, the kid wasn't at Hal's side anymore.

Oliver, unlike Hal expected, didn't look furious at being called there so late. Instead, he caught the running kid in his arms and picked him up. Roy instantly wrapped his arms around the man's neck and leaned into his shoulder.

Oliver sighed in relief at having his kid there and held him closer. He knew it had not been a good idea letting him stay the night somewhere else, Roy was way too young for that.

A moment later, the archer started walking towards his friend, who had stood by now.

"What happened, Hal?" Oliver asked tired. He was not in the mood to yell or argue anymore. He wasn't even used to fight with Hal.

"Relax. Nothing happened, Roy just…" he wasn't sure what to say, had the boy missed him and his home or had he been too nervous with Oliver's threat to even allow himself to enjoy the afternoon? "Look, we need to talk. Maybe Roy can go upstairs and watch TV for a little while?" he suggested more for the child to hear.

Oliver sighed tired. He gave up… whatever.

"Fine," he placed a kiss in the boy's hair before putting him down, "Roy, go."

"I wanna go home," the kid latched himself on Oliver's leg. Even if his dad did give him the spanking he had said earlier, he wanted to go. He really didn't like it when Oliver was mad at him.

"We are going home in a few minutes," he ruffled Roy's hair, "Go upstairs and I'll go get you as soon as Hal and I are done talking."

Roy reluctantly let go off Oliver and obeyed while both adults went into the living room.

"What do you want to talk about?" Oliver finally asked.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello :) I hope you're liking the story. This chapter was also co-written with Savy160**

 **Sorry for the grammar mistakes, it's been a while since I wrote in English.**

 **Please leave a review or PM ;) Have a great day!**

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"What do you want to talk about?" Oliver finally asked.

"I'm not trying to be a jerk, you need to understand that" Hal started that way, "I'm just worried about Roy..."

Oliver looked really tired, he didn't really want to start another argument that late.

"That you're not neglecting the kid for starters."

Oliver groaned. Again with that?

"The fact that I don't baby him like you guys to do with your brats doesn't mean I'm the worst."

Hal sighed in defeat. He'll have to call Dinah, then.

"Whatever, Ollie. Don't say I didn't try to warn you," Hal replied before Ollie left to get Roy. Oliver cursed under his breath as he took the kid to the car.

"Are you mad or something?" Roy dared to ask when they were like 20 minutes from Kyle's home.

"And why would you think that?" Oliver growled.

"Cause your face gets red when you're mad."

"I'm not red, and I'm not mad."

"But you sound mad... I'm sorry, daddy." He hadn't meant to make Oliver mad at him, he had just wanted to go home.

"I'm not mad at you. Just... People."

"What people?"

"Don't worry about it," Oliver answered.

"I wanna know."

"None of your business"

"It is, because when you're mad, you're mean to me."

"Don't start with me again, young man."

"But you are! No wonder Kyle's dad asked me..."

Oliver practically slammed on the brakes as he turned around to look at Roy. With an icy tone, Oliver asked, "What did Kyle's dad say, Roy?"

Roy got the feeling something was wrong.

"He asked if you were nice to me..." He answered from the carpet, where he had landed after Oliver stopped the car.

"For the love of Christ, put that damn seatbelt on! And why the hell did he ask that!"

"I don't know, he wanted to know if you yelled at me or if you hit me." The boy climbed to the seat again and started fidgeting with the seatbelt, but it was always difficult in Ollie's car, "Can you help me with this?"

Oliver ignored his request and gripped the steering wheel even tighter. "That damn sonofabitch!"

"Daddy, my seatbelt!" But Oliver continued to ignore him in favor of thinking about Hal. "Whatever! I should have told him you're mean." Roy grumbled.

Oliver reached back to pop Roy on the leg. "Not another word."

"Ow!" Roy let go off the seatbelt and moved farther from Ollie, "I changed my mind, I don't wanna go home anymore."

Oliver completely ignored his son as he pulled into a parking spot in the manor grounds. The manor was closer to Hal's than his own house, so there's where they'll spend the night. Oliver started walking towards the manor grumbling. He completely forgot his child… So Roy got down on his own and started walking.

Realization suddenly sank in. He forgot his kid. Damn. "Roy!" Ollie yelled only to turn and find the kid behind him.

"Can we go to Kyle's tomorrow?" Oliver clearly was mad, and the kid didn't like it.

"No!"

"Not fair! I don't wanna be with you!"

"It's either me or the orphanage."

Roy's eyes opened wider. That had been harsh…

"I'll call Dinah"

"Just stop being such a brat, Roy! If you didn't wanna be here, you shouldn't have called me."

Roy didn't answer, but sat right there on the dirt to start crying. He may be tall, but he was just six, that orphanage thing had been way too mean, and his arm hurt from when Oliver had stopped the car minutes ago.

Oliver just stood there trying to gather patience. Why was always this difficult with that kid?

"My arm hurts..." Roy sobbed minutes later.

"Too bad."

"But-" Roy began before Oliver shook his head

"I'm sick of your attitude."

Roy sniffled.

"I'm telling my teacher you hit me, then" the kid mumbled. He didn't know why, but he knew his teacher wasn't happy with Ollie.

Oliver froze before slowly turning to look at Roy. "Did you just threaten me?"

Uh uh...

"My arm hurts a lot..." He didn't know what else to say, so he raised his injured arm a little for Oliver to see.

"Let's go."

"Where?" He kind of tried to dry the tears and snot on his face with his sleeve.

"Inside," he just wanted to go to bed already.

"But my arm…"

"Come on, Roy, I'm not buying that arm bullshit."

But instead of getting up and entering the house, Roy started wailing even louder. Before the man could do anything, another car arrived and parked beside Oliver's.

"Oliver!"

"Dinah?" What on earth… "What are you doing here this late?" that wasn't even Oliver's home anymore.

"Hal called me, told me about today's and I assumed you'd stay here the night," the woman explained somewhat confused, but her expression turned even more serious once she took a closer look at the child, "Damn it, Oliver!," she ducked down to pick up the sniffling boy, who actually didn't put resistance at all, "Why is it that always I see you two is Roy crying about something? Would it kill you to hug him or hold him once in a while?"

Oliver rolled his eyes, and was about to make some snarky remark when Roy spoke up with a shaky voice.

"My arm hurts."

Dinah sighed, glaring at Oliver.

"Let's check that arm, honey," she started walking towards the manor in a way that was the universal sign for Oliver to open the door.

.

Oliver resisted the urge of slamming the door after Dinah when she left. One thing was Hal, but Dinah?

The man started upstairs towards his old bedroom, where Roy was already tucked in. The arm obviously wasn't broken, but it was somewhat sore because Roy had used it to not hit his head when he fell from the backseat, so Dinah had put some bandages on it and a told him to hold a plastic bag with some ice against it.

Oliver sat on the edge of the bed and started taking off his shoes. He had already been on his sleep clothes before heading to Hal's, so the only thing left was getting some sleep. The room was already dark, Dinah had turned them off after exiting, the dim illumination being just the light of the TV screen.

The older archer noted Roy was dozing off already, so he grabbed the remote, turned off the TV and laid down. However, as he tried to get comfortable in the huge bed, a tired voice got his attention.

"Why don't you love me?" What on earth… "I'm not always that bad."

After Oliver's initial shock, the first thought that crossed his mind was another tantrum, but Roy sounded like… too sad. Again, Roy always managed to sound somewhat sad when having a fit.

"You mean because I turned off the TV?" the man looked at him, and Roy actually struggled to sit up a little bit.

"No, because Kyle's dad's not so mean with him… And you told me to go back to the orphanage."

"I didn't said that!" hearing about… Hal angered him enough, he didn't need the kid to put words in his mouth too.

"You said something like that! And I don't get it… I'm not that bad, not always. So, why don't you love me?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! I hope you liked this chapter and thank you for commenting in the previous ones! Please leave your opinions in a Review or in a PM ;)**

 **Please check the spin-off of this story! It's called Rotten Apples :3**

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Saying that Oliver woke up would be like implying he slept at all, which he actually didn't. All night, the man had been kept up by Roy's stupid question...

The day before hadn't been easy; first he had gotten that call from preschool, then he had argued with Hal, after that Roy had thrown a memorial tantrum which got him to stay at Hal's place, just so Oliver had had to pick him up at night, then another tantrum this time at his mother's Manor which Dinah got to judge him for, and to top it all, Roy ended the day with that ridiculous self-pity party... Which was obviously ridiculous because there was no way on earth the kid really thought that.

Oliver refrained from groaning as he remembered the little sleeping form on the other side of the huge bed. Last thing he wanted was waking up the child and having to get up himself that early.

Oliver buffed. That why you didn't he love the boy? Roy HAD to be kidding... Every damn minute of Oliver's life revolved around that kid since the day he took him in, and now the ungrateful brat said Oliver didn't love him? One thing was getting death bulshit from his so called friends, whatever, they didn't get to be there every fuckin' seconds of his life to know how things were, but Roy did, so there was no way in hell he actually meant that.

Well, at least that's what Oliver had thought the first few hours. After hearing that nonsense coming from his son's mouth, he had decided it had been a long enough day without having to deal with yet another tantrum, so he had told the kid to go to sleep already. Apparently Roy was either tired or sad enough, because he didn't insisted, but he also didn't stir around or lean against him like he'd usually do, so that kind of left him thinking…

Maybe he was a little bit harsher than most of his friends, but most of them also they didn't have to deal with the same kind of tantrums Oliver did... Maybe Bruce, with Jason and all, but the rest of his friends' kids we're pretty obedient and calmed... Roy, on the other hand, bit, kicked, hit, screamed, cried, pinched, scratched, threw himself on the floor, destroyed everything, started randomly speaking in Navajo, and sometimes did all of those simultaneously when he got upset. Who the hell did they think they were to tell him how to act towards the kid?

Needless to say, between the boy's haunting tantrums and being at his mother's lugubrious manor, he hadn't rested well. He didn't wanna get up... Hell, he didn't even wanna be awake for like a week and just leisure around a little... Maybe that was what they actually needed, to take a damn break already. Between everyone breathing on their shoulders, the annoyingly nosy school staff and the judging looks everybody shoot their way, he felt more exhausted than ever. He'd kill for some rest...

However Oliver's wishes weren't always granted, and sooner than later Roy began to stir like he usually did before starting to wake up.

Well, damn...

"What time is it?" The first thing the kid thought as he hurriedly sat up was that he didn't want to be late for school, he had to be extra good that day... Even not fully awake, Roy still knew he was in for tons of trouble. Oliver had been mad at him before, but the previous day's events had been even more tiring and frustrating than usual for both of them. Usually, Oliver wasn't one for holding grudges, but he usually didn't have to go pick him up at Hal's or crash at his mother's Manor at midnight either... Besides, everyone had ended up mad at Ollie, so he surely wasn't really happy with Roy.

Oliver didn't really wanted to answer that question. The simple idea of having to get up to drive home and get Roy ready to school helped him set his mind.

"Don't worry about that, there's no rush today," that earned him a confused look from the kid. Usually, an angry Oliver meant one taking every opportunity to nag at him, not to tell him it didn't matter being late.

"How come?"

"We are taking a day off, we can just sleep in and go somewhere later instead of work or school. Let's think about it as your birthday present."

"But my birthday is in two weeks."

"We can do this again in two weeks, then... Unless you really want to go to school."

And that did the trick, because as weird as Ollie was acting, Roy would never let go an opportunity to skip school.

"No, it's fine! But aren't you like... Mad at me or something?" Unconsciously, Roy hid behind one of the huge pillows as the man suppressed a sigh.

"I'm not jumping out of happiness about all your shows from yesterday, but it's not like I'll be mad at you forever. As if I could."

Roy looked up at that and Oliver cursed himself when he noticed the kid's eyes had welled up. Roy tended to cry during tantrums, but that didn't feel like a tantrum at all.

"I'm sorry..." The boy mumbled, looking as if he were trying hard not to burst in tears, and that had Oliver feeling like shit. He could ignore cocodrile tears, but Roy looked actually sad right that moment.

"Hey, it's fine, Roy, I'm not mad," at least not then.

"But you were. You were so mad you wanted me to go back to the orphanage," unwillingly, his bottom lip started wobbling a little.

Oliver was pretty sure he hadn't said exactly that, but still it wasn't the time to discuss it.

"No, Roy, come on... I swear I didn't mean it. I wouldn't want you to go back ever."

"But you..."

"I can be an idiot sometimes, but I'm pretty sure my life would be like super sad and boring if you were anywhere else." And it didn't exactly get Roy to stop looking at the edge of tears, but it at least made him look less miserable.

"But... You said..."

"Look, sometimes I say no more then a bunch of crap. I'm sorry, I was mad, yes, but I never wanted to make you feel like I didn't want you around. I'd miss you too much..."

Roy shot him a hesitant look.

"Really?"

"I swear, I..." Before he could even finish, he felt an extra weight crash against his torso, and he was extremely relieved because just moments ago he could have sworn the kid wouldn't even consider hugging him ever again. "You know what?" He asked the child, pressing him Closer against him, "Let's go swimming and then to the amusement park. You liked the beach the last time we went, right?"

And not only had Roy liked it, he had loved it! In Arizona, he lived in the desert and there were trees and mountains and even a river close from home, but he has never seen the ocean before arriving California. And as if it weren't already awesome, Oliver had taken him and thought him how to swim his first weekend there!

"Can we really go?" He cleaned his nose on the man's shirt.

"Sure, let's just go home and grab some clothes first." They had stayed the night at his mother's Manor because it was closer to Hal's house than his, but it wasn't like he wanted to stay for breakfast. Roy and his mom weren't exactly the best friends, "Then we can go get some breakfast at IHOP and to the movies before going to the beach." Maybe breakfast, movies, beach and amusement park were altogether a little too much, but it's not like it'd hurt anyone. Besides, what was wrong in wanting to make it up to the kid? Roy had exasperated him, yeah, but maybe that orphanage comment had been out of place.

It was just one day, after all.


End file.
